The Dizzy Acrobat
''' The Dizzy Acrobat '''is a 1943 Woody Woodpecker cartoon. Summary Woody Woodpecker visits the circus. Singing "I Went to the Animal Fair," he strolls through a tiger's cage. As Woody looks at a rhinoceros, the nearby lion eats Woody's hot dog. Woody gets revenge by putting the lion's tail in the bun; the lion eats his own tail. Woody next tries to sneak into the main tent, and the run-ins with the guard take up the rest of the cartoon. First, the guard tells Woody he can work for his admission by watering an elephant, but he's not pleased when Woody ties the elephant's trunk to a hydrant. The chase is on, leading into the lion tamer's cage, onto the trapeze, and bicycling across the tightrope. Both Woody and the guard end up as targets in the shooting gallery. Plot Unimpressed by the sideshow barkers' astounding claims, Woody goes to the circus without a ticket, and the circus cop kicks him out. Woody comes back, and the cop tells him that he'll have to work watering an elephant if he stays. A little thing like that doesn't detain Woody for long. Woody connects the elephant's trunk to the fire hydrant and blows up the elephant. The cop isn't pleased with Woody's work and tries to get tough with him, but he doesn't know Woody very well. The circus performance struggles on while Woody, with the help of a few lions, tigers, elephants and unscheduled acrobatics, that trying to keep him from seeing the circus is unethical, ungentlemanly, and very unlikely to succeed. Woody runs through circus tents, gets the animals in an uproar (making the lion bite off his own tail), and leads cops to the high wire on a bicycle. Chased by the cops, Woody makes the crowd roar as he does wild trapeze stunts. Trivia This cartoon was nominated for an Academy Award in 1943 for Best Short Subject, Cartoons. It lost to MGM's The Yankee Doodle Mouse, the first of seven Tom and Jerry cartoons to win this award. It was the fifth film from Walter Lantz to be nominated in this category. Woody sings the popular children's tune "Animal Fair" at the start of the cartoon. A sign indicates that the circus's Rubber Man is "Gone for the duration." This is a gag referencing the United States rationing of rubber during World War II. While Woody is on the trapeze, a variation of Johann Strauss II's "Blue Danube Waltz" can be heard in the background score. This cartoon was Alex Lovy's final effort as director on a Woody short for about 12 years, as he was drafted into the US Navy. The next Woody "cartune" he would direct was 1955's The Tree Medic. He does not receive on-screen credit as director. Category:Cartoons Category:Woody Woodpecker Cartoons Category:1943 cartoons Category:Walter Lantz Productions Cartoons Category:Cartoons animated by Lester Kline Category:Cartoons animated by Paul Smith Category:Cartoons animated by Emery Hawkins Category:Cartoons written by Ben Hardaway Category:Cartoons written by Milt Schaffer Category:Cartoons produced by Walter Lantz Category:Cartoons directed by Alex Lovy Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Fred Brunish Category:Cartoons with sets by Fred Brunish